I have a character in a story set during the 3rd Crusade and I was wondering what sounds like a plausible reason for said character to be wrongfully imprisioned for several years or more. What I'm looking for is a sort of "Lock him up and throw away the key" situation. Any suggestions? If it helps in any way the character in question is Shia.
12th Century Syria
- Thread starter Lady_of_Myth
- Start date
Where is he imprisoned, England? France? One of the crusader kingdoms?
What was his social status? Back then unless you were a member of the local lord could lock you up and throw away the key without any judical process at all. They were said to have the power of the pit and the gallows.
The pit was exactly that; a hole in the ground. The French word for it is the "oblier" (sp?)) from the French verb "to forget". Anyway, you get the picture.
What was his social status? Back then unless you were a member of the local lord could lock you up and throw away the key without any judical process at all. They were said to have the power of the pit and the gallows.
The pit was exactly that; a hole in the ground. The French word for it is the "oblier" (sp?)) from the French verb "to forget". Anyway, you get the picture.
If he is French, or fighting for them, you could also incorporate the "quarantine", which basically required that a knight serve for forty days before he recieved the perks of crusading - namely, full pardon from sin for killing or property seizure of infidels. If he did not serve his quarantine, he could be imprisoned for those acts.
Besides that, a general crime that would be punishable almost universally would be any form of sacrilege or idolatry. These people were often imprisoned for long periods under extremely harsh conditions, essentially forgotten until rival armies would capture the town. At this point they could be executed, or in rare instances ransomed backed to their homeland.
Besides that, a general crime that would be punishable almost universally would be any form of sacrilege or idolatry. These people were often imprisoned for long periods under extremely harsh conditions, essentially forgotten until rival armies would capture the town. At this point they could be executed, or in rare instances ransomed backed to their homeland.
I don't know a lot about Arab law from that period, but in Europe at the time examples of extended prison sentences were very rare. It's expensive to guard a prisoner and feed him, and medieval governments didn't have a lot of people or resources to spare for that kind of thing. (The expression furca et fossa, or gallows and pit, actually refers to a pit for dunking people in trials by water.)
The exception to the rule were prisoners of war, who were sometimes held for long periods of time while their families struggled to pull together a ransom. If you want your character to be captured by crusaders, Matthew Strickland has some information about twelfth-century ransom practices in his book War and Chivalry. The focus of the book is on England and Normandy, but crusaders may have operated according to similar rules.
The exception to the rule were prisoners of war, who were sometimes held for long periods of time while their families struggled to pull together a ransom. If you want your character to be captured by crusaders, Matthew Strickland has some information about twelfth-century ransom practices in his book War and Chivalry. The focus of the book is on England and Normandy, but crusaders may have operated according to similar rules.